GOOD STUFF EATERY
Address: 303 Pennsylvania Avenue SE, Washington, D.C. 20003
A few years back, I remember watching the fourth season of Top Chef and looking up Chef Spike Mendelsohn after seeing him compete. I saw that, at the time, he only had his two restaurants located in D.C.: Good Stuff Eatery and We, The Pizza. I made a note of the two restaurants and then didn’t think about either of them for quite some time.
Fast forward now six years when I’ve moved into the D.C. area, and I had completely forgotten about the fact that Chef Spike had his restaurants in D.C. right on Capitol Hill. So when my friend Andrew took me to Good Stuff Eatery, my memory was quickly jogged when I walked into the restaurant and I saw his picture staring right back at me.
I would say that the concept of Good Stuff Eatery runs in a similar vein of “fast-casual” burger joints like Five Guys or In-N-Out, but with the burgers being more on the gourmet side. My visit to Good Stuff last Friday marked the second time that I had been to the restaurant with Andrew, and the food was still just as excellent.
This time, I opted in for the Steakhouse Burger: a ground beef patty topped with roasted mushrooms, crispy onion straws, Swiss cheese, and a tangy Steakhouse mayo to finish it off. All the flavors mixed really well with each other, and the sesame bun was the perfect size to hold everything together (which gets bonus points in my book). On the side, I got an order of the handcut fries, which were seasoned with just the right amount of sea salt and fried to get that nice crunchy exterior and softer interior. It was pretty funny watching the paper bag that the fries came in get more translucent as it absorbed more oil from the fries. (Hey, some nice oily foods make for part of a balanced meal, right?) Not settling for just the burger and fries for lunch, I also got the Red Velvet handspun milkshake, which had chocolate syrup lining the inside of the cup and a nice extra scoop of ice cream right in the middle of the shake. The shake was certainly very rich, and oh so satisfying as well.
Between all three items, it certainly made for a very complete and filling meal. Having only gotten two different burgers and two different shakes, I’ve only sampled a small portion of the menu. But from what I’ve had so far, I really enjoy it. There’s enough variety in the choices so that you never feel like you’re just eating the same thing over and over, and the quality of the food really shines in how fresh everything tastes. I will most certainly be back to Good Stuff for another round.
Let’s now take a look at the Good Stuff Eatery Dish Spotlight. Asterisks (*) below mark my recommended dishes.
** Steakhouse Burger **
All-natural ground beef patty topped with roasted cremini mushrooms, fried onion straws, Emmental Swiss cheese, and a tangy Steakhouse Mayo.
Pictured here with handcut fries and the Red Velvet milkshake.
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And finally, here are my rankings for Good Stuff Eatery:
Food: 5 / 5
The quality of the food is fantastic and the menu variety ensures you have the flexibility to get different taste profiles from the different burgers and shakes.
Atmosphere: 4.5 / 5
With a very relaxed atmosphere, Good Stuff also has up decorations that give kind of an Americana throwback vibe that certainly add to the character of the restaurant. The small dining area is located on the second floor, with the first floor being primarily for ordering / picking up.
Service: 4.5 / 5
All of the ordering is backed up with the handheld notification system so that you are free to wait away from the crowd of people putting in their orders and not be afraid that you’ll miss hearing your order being called out. The food is served up expeditiously and if they have your shake ready, sometimes they’ll give it to you right away.
Price: 4.5 / 5
All things considered, I think the pricing is really good since you can get a good burger and fries for right around $12, especially right in the middle of D.C. Throw a shake into the mix though and then the price starts to creep up (but it’s still worth it).
Overall:
18.5 / 20
(93%)
Categories: Restaurants, Washington, D.C.
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